AAACEUs Blog

This month, we're discussing chronic pain and highlighting a recent guideline put out by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense outlining its appropriate management and treatment. Chronic pain is one of the most common medical conditions. In the U.S. alone, approximately 100 million adults experience chronic pain and, as a healthcare professional, you encounter individuals suffering from chronic pain at every level of your practice.

Life expectancy has dropped in America for the first time since 1999. The reasons for this are complex, but one of the main culprits is the growing opioid epidemic in this country. As opioid abuse and opioid-related deaths receive increased attention, we're starting to see best practices by healthcare providers change and evolve.

In 2001, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) released their new pain management standards. These new standards led to a commonly held perception that should be seen as the "5th vital sign". At the time, patients' pain was not being managed well and the emphasis of the new guidelines was to address this concern. It is a commonly held belief that this led to a period of overprescribing that was one of the many factors that contributed to the opioid crisis.

With the opioid epidemic receiving increased attention over the last year, there is a lot of information available regarding opioid abuse. In particular, there has been a focus on the population aged 25-40 but there is also concern regarding opioid use/abuse amongst the elderly. The population of older adults who misuse opioids is projected to double from 2004 to 2020, from 1.2 percent to 2.4 percent.